106 Responses to “Latest podcast: Kenny’s mock & Tampa Bay reaction”

Rob, you can delete this one if you want, just wanted to make sure you saw this article on Kam Chancellor on ESPN. Says he was hospitalized for three days for trauma and internal bleeding after beating the Broncos in the SB in 2014.

This one of the best articles I have read in a long time and explains so much about the Hawks team and what happened last year. We all know what a great leader Kam was but it is far deeper with this group than that.

I think all the fans who loved Kam and his style of play were hurt last year too. You can see things have come 360 this year and it is so nice to see that one of the truly great Seahawks is back in the fold.

I was a strong voice in wanting him gone when he held out last year and I admit 100% I was wrong. He is the heart and soul of this team and truly legendary and historical defense. Even PC/JS have to overpay a little for the inevitable injuries and decline in play I truly hope they get an extension done before the playoffs start and make Kam a Seahawk for life.

Youre welcome! I was pissed Kam held out because I knew Seattle wouldnt budge on his contract, but I understood his stance 100% in regards to the teams having the ability to cut or bargain down players whose contracts pay them more than the Club feels they are worth after the first couple years, but also expecting players to honor contracts that pay them a fraction of what their actual performance is worth (Wilson, Bennett, Browner, Maxwell underpaid, Mebane threatened with being cut, Bryant cut). I also felt he was letting his lesser paid teammates down by not being there, and playing spottily week to week after returning.

No one can argue he hasnt sacrificed his long-term health and shortened his career by playing through injuries that would have forced lesser men to retire.

All last year I felt Carrol and the players insistence there was no division or blame on Chancellors holdout rang hollow. Now I know I was right. If they can just get a few guys healthy and get the line in sync before the playoffs, Seattle can win a championship again. And hopefully Chancellor will remain a Seahawk for life and play at least another year or two. He’s played absolutely lights out since coming back from his groin injury this year and my hat is off to him.

Cannot see any way Seattle parts with him now, even if he misses more time to injury.

Jee scoot on 710 told this story when kam was holding out. Said he went to his house after the season and made fun of him for looking small. Kam told him he was hospitalized with internal bleeding. That story changed my opinion of the holdout. I still didn’t like it but I wasn’t mad at kam for it.

Great post. Holdout wise, can’t blame Kam for feeling underpaid & having a limited shelf life but likewise can’t blame the team. He is the heart and soul, hope stays, plays and gets paid. He certainly deserves it

Westbrook is a senior, and is signed up for the Senior Bowl- some interesting names already: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000739740/article/prospects-who-have-accepted-invites-to-2017-senior-bowl.
Dede looks like a day 2 prospect, in the mold of Will Fuller/Paul Richardson, who could move into the late first. Like Fuller a sub 4.4 40 would boost his stock…we’ll see if he can crack it. DW is an interesting prospect no doubt. Fan of his and could see him being the WR that JS/PC wanted when they drafted Richardson, who has been an utter disappointment.

Fuller is so frustrating to watch. Has everything you want in terms of a deep threat and chunk play specialist, but his drops are maddening. He was playing well earlier this year, but it was inevitable those drops would catch up to him.

Well, he did have a 32 inch Vert and a 4.6 40 at the combine. Thats good enough if he’s shifty and has any moves at all. Seems like a change of pace back who could do alright in the right offense. Was 5′-10″ and 210 or so at the combine, could probably gain 5-10 lbs without losing speed if he’s dedicated.

I agree, but those arent good #’s. Seattle doesn’t need a 4.3-4.4 runner. Yes, we know it helps.

They need a guy that can handle a decent size workload, get those tough 2,3,4 yard runs to help set up play action, move the chains, and then bring in Prosise to catch the defense out of position and worn down. Someone who’s style/mentality this team can feed off of.

They must feel he has the potential to carry a decent load. They have looked at a lot of backs the past couple years though, so the only thing that piques my interest is he’s Fed Taylor’s kid. If he inherited something like his Dad’s mentality and work ethic, that would explain why Seattle is taking a flyer on him with a PS spot. And it would fill your requirement of having the right mentality–IF he gets to 215 or 220 lbs.

Is it just me or has the need at WR jumped way up on the list of draft needs?

Baldwin and Graham are doing their thing at a Pro Bowl level. Lockett still doesn’t look 100%, with no lift at all. Kearse has regressed at an alarming rate. He didn’t get the big deal he was looking for…is that the issue? Richardson has proven to be be a bust. The first RW pick against Tampa PR didn’t fight back for the ball and let the db go through him. Mcevoy has had some moments especially on ST, but I’d be surprised if he becomes much more at WR.

WR-Corey Davis;
I know it would be a “luxury” pick for a 1-st round WR, however, consider that this kid has 50 career TD’s and is also 6-3, maybe he could be a solution for the red zone scoring problems? I believe 50-TD’s is at or very near the all time FBS receiving TD record.http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/545923/corey-davis

I’m currently living in Kalamazoo, MI where Western Michigan U is located.
I don’t follow the Broncos all that close, but I would think if Corey Davis measures 6-3 he’s likely standing on his tiptoes.

He does remind me of Paul Richardson in that he’s the dominant focus of the team. However, he’s stronger, much bigger and is more of a ‘football player’ – not a track star per se. He does a good job of carrying the load at the college level. Probably not so much in the pros.

Even though Rob looks at him as a mid-first rounder (and indeed that may happen) but I’m not all that sure of the value that early in the draft. Depends how he might develop as a player with a higher level of competition. It’ll be interesting how he does in the combine and his pro day.

If Bevell can’t figure out a way to keep from going to Kearse on the goal line because he can’t figure out any formation that won’t allow teams to bracket Graham and Baldwin, I’d say this isn’t a luxury, but a necessity. In Rob’s latest mock, for example, I’d take Mike Williams if he was there.

You line up with Graham and Baldwin on one side and force the defense to slide coverage (because why wouldn’t they?). You’re never going to create a formation where teams don’t focus on DB and JG in the red zone. So they get blanket coverage and it leaves Kearse 1v1. Bevell doesn’t tell Russell to throw to Kearse in that situation necessarily. It’s just as likely Russell, not unfairly, assesses the options and decides to throw to the obvious positive matchup rather than force a throw to JG or DB and run the risk of a turnover.

The defense aren’t just a bunch of static bodies lining up regardless of what the ‘Hawks put out there. They react and plan themselves. And Wilson singling out Kearse is as much on the QB as anything.

Exactly, Rob. Bevell calls the plays, but RW has the option to audible out and he has the option to choose who to throw to. And sometimes–gasp!–RW makes the wrong read or just goes balls out and throws to the wrong guy for his own reasons.

For instance, Carrol said RW was not supposed to throw the ball to PRich on the first pick, and that PRich ran his route wrong. Nothing in that was the fault of The Bevell.

Ive been grumping about their predictable Red Zone offense for years, and Im still baffled as to why they never throw comebacks in the dirt, or use slants, Skinny Posts, and crossing routes with JG more often. Apparently they refuse to throw the ball between the hash marks in the End Zone. But its not like other defenses havent figured this out.

Bevell needs to adapt and diversify his Red Zone gameplans and calls, but throwing to Kearse or not is not really his fault.

I think Kearse is pressing. They need to get him more involved on a regular basis so he wont be pressing. I know, hard to do when he’s not doing all that well.

Supposedly he’s only had one drop recently. A lot of the time, RW is throwing balls up when Kearse is well covered, balls that arent really catchable. He’s giving one of his trusted targets a shot to make a great play. It hasnt been working, but thats not to say Kearse sucks or RW sucks. Rather than thow it away, RW has been giving guys shots to make a wild play out of nothing, and especially Kearse. At some point, it will pay dividends.

“You’re never going to create a formation where teams don’t focus on DB and JG in the red zone. So they get blanket coverage and it leaves Kearse 1v1.”

This is the biggest reason that WR has moved up my board of needs(OL,DL,WR,RB,DB). Kearse hasn’t been able to consistently beat 1v1 coverage and make plays this year. Zero catches on 9 red zone targets. That’s flat not getting the job done. It looks like the hunger has escaped JK. imo

There’s more ball to be played and they could surge in the ‘4th quarter’, so JK could turn it around-it wouldn’t be the first time. At the moment it looks like the Hawks could use another RZ target. Preferably one with some size.

Sure, but they also didn’t have much trouble with this towards the end of last season when they were on fire. It seems to be to be a trendy need — something that is seen as an issue today but in the grand scheme of things is probably quite minor.

IMO the two big needs are rectifying the massive drop in production in the run offense (gone from a top five attack to bottom third) and getting more interior pass rush plus improving the run defense which has dropped from #1 in the league to #14 (giving up 20 extra yards a game this year).

Yep there’s time to right the ship. The Hawks are a 4th quarter team after all. Going into the season I was happy with the quality depth at WR. JK and PR haven’t shown to be quality. To use a baseball term, that I loathe,WAR(wins above replacement). Do JK and PR have a positive WAR? We’ve seen the Hawks becoming more and more a spread the field-pass first team-in every season with Wilson. To embrace that philosophy upgrading the WR talent level makes a lot of sense.

Wilson’s health is crucial to the run #’s being so far down. 78 yards rushing in the first 9 games, 80 yards last week.

To be clear my list of needs are OL, DL, WR, RB, DB. I’m not saying we have to draft a WR in the first, but think it should be addressed with one of our 4 picks in the first 2 days.

That’s part of the criticism, right? DON’T line up wtih Graham and Baldwin on one side! For example, instead of lining up Kearse as the X by himself, put JFG out there. Now, he’s not normally an X in the field because he wouldn’t have the speed to threaten the CB deep, but in the red zone we don’t care about that. We want him to win balls on a slant with his big body and to win fades/jump balls with his height and athleticism. Who doesn’t do that? Kearse. Who does? Graham. So for red zone purposes, forget he’s a TE and get him out wide. Then at least teams are forced to double cover him out there, which pulls a safety out of coverage in the middle. Doubling Graham and Baldwin on both sides of the field presents way more problems than doubling them on the same side when they are lined up tight to the formation.

And if it’s on Russ (it is), that’s STILL on Bevell. Because Bevell (like most coaches) is telling him, “Look, we are probably going to get single coverage on [X] here. If we do, exploit that matchup and throw it to the guy with single coverage.” But what he should be telling him is, “Look, throwing to Kearse there is a wasted down even if he’s single covered, so don’t throw it there. Roll out, scramble, go to the back, whatever else you have to do instead.”

It doesn’t matter where you put Graham or Baldwin. If there’s two guys on Graham and he travels to the outside on his own, the defenders will follow him. Essentially you get the same situation. Kearse 1v1. Except now Kearse is working in traffic and you’re still seeing him as the best option based on the QB’s read.

And I’m sorry but that last paragraph just doesn’t make any sense. What offensive coordinator in his right mind tells a QB as experienced as Russell Wilson such a defined set of instructions for his pre-snap read and adjustment? To basically tell him to ignore Kearse if he’s the best matchup in favour of what you basically describe as, ‘Errrr… run around a bit and do something else’.

It’s this type of attempt to break down the offense and find reasons to criticise Bevell that I find kind of frustrating. If a defense gives Wilson Kearse 1v1 and blanket coverage on the other guys, Wilson is absolutely correct to target Kearse. Sorry, but those are the facts. Bevell is an irrelevance here. It’s Wilson’s decision. He’s the one who reacts to the defense pre-snap. And if he sees Kearse 1v1, he and the receiver have to make a play. On at least two of Kearse’s red zone targets that I can recall, Wilson throws a horrible pass. The other I can remember was Kearse vs New England where he tried too hard to score and didn’t complete the catch.

I seriously think this is such a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.

We have our QB. Football 101 remains winning at the LOS. That’s where we are lacking obviously. We’re about a piece away from being 2013-style dominant again on the DL . We need that effective interior rusher.

The OL is the real bugaboo. I really don’t want to go into the draft needing to find our guy/s/s. I also feel that next year is a year we really need to go for it and get aggressive. This defense is still in it’s prime and we are in the second straight year of squandering that. It won’t last forever with this particular core and I don’t take it for granted.

I suggest we revisit a trade for Cleveland LT Joe Thomas when the new league year begins. It comes with risk and cost and a possible great reward. Thomas will be 32 in 2017, carries a $10M cap hit and will cost draft picks(something I abhor giving away). With $27M in space this is doable(with enough left over to extend our own guys if need be). He would also have a full off season to integrate. Cleveland was rumored to have shopped him for a 2017 2nd rounder. With another year behind him what would the cost be now for 2 years of JT? I will assume it’s a 2017 3rd and another pick in 2018. If Irvin’s comp is a 3rd that still leaves us with a 1,2 & 3 this year. I would expect to grab the best interior pass rusher the Hawks can find with their first or second selection with an OL (Bolles, D Johnson, D Mama, Wheeler?) added somewhere early-ish in the draft.

We can return to dominance by next season but it will take some balls. Something our FO has proven to have. By 2018 season’s end, health withstanding, these lines should be kicking butt.

I think the ship has sailed on Joe Thomas. Cleveland clearly were never that interested in moving him because nobody has traded for him. He’ll turn 33 during the 2017 season. And here’s the issue. What is a third round pick to the Browns? They’d be better off keeping Thomas. And if you’re talking about a first or second rounder for a guy set to turn 33 — I can’t get behind that.

I was a big proponent of trading for Thomas last year before the trade deadline and think he could have had a huge impact the last two seasons. That being said I tend to agree with Rob unless it is a 3rd rounder or less I think that ship has sailed unfortunately.

Still think the best solution for the OL is draft Bolles in Rd #1 if he is still there and bring back Breno this off season as he is likely to be on the market. He would be a great veteran presence with all your young guys, is nasty and knows the system.

Absolutely no higher than a 3rd. Yes he will turn 33 on Dec 4, 2017. What’s a 3rd round pick to Cleveland? It’s Jamie Collins. It’s ammo for trading up in the draft. Or it’s simply another busted pick by the Browns. Idk. They are looking down the barrel of 0-16 with JT in the fold. Hard to go downhill from there really.
From my perspective JT would be worth our 2017 3rd round comp pick if it could get done.

Who would Cleveland replace Thomas with that will keep whoever their QB is (RG3, Watkins, etc) healthy in 2017? Nobody. They aren’t going to trade an All-Pro LT for a draft pick that isn’t going to help them turn the ship around immediately. They need a QB and need to keep that QB from getting hit, you don’t do that by trading away your best offensive lineman.

Exactly Drew! Wish we could get him but really does not look like there is a very very slim chance. They need to turn the ship around in Clevland ASAP and Thomas has to be one of the key pieces short term for them.

It looks like the Hawks are purely a single back team. After Lynch’s retirement, there was talk of a RBBC but so far, they seem to have one primary starter (whether Michael, Prosise or Rawls) and the rest are depth guys who hardly get any carries. This is unlike many other successful teams where the running backs share carries. It doesn’t seem like any of our current backs (or many backs in the current league) are capable of carrying the load full time. I am not sure why they don’t split carries between multiple backs to reduce injuries and keep them fresh.

Prosise got hurt or we would be a RB by committee. They are in love with that kid, he just hasnt stayed healthy. If Pope is healthy, you will see him get his chances early in the game; if he does well, he’s going to get a bunch of chances to lighten Rawls’ load to help ease him in.

The whole weirdness with the Gilliam/Sowell situation at RT has had me thinking about the position a lot lately, and low and behold, something that stood out to me today in Tom Cable’s presser was when he was asked about Sowell’s move to RT, he said he has the length and physical mentality that they like there, which kinda segwayed into suggesting that Gilliam not having that necessary toughness. I’ve sensed this from Gilliam his entire time starting there, perhaps they were hoping he’d develop it. Breno certainly did, and maybe the scrappiness they saw out of Sowell in training camp they want inserted there, with George Fant staying the starter at LT.

This has me thinking that if they miss out on Bolles R1 in the up coming draft, they could be targeting a guy like Chad Wheeler, 6-6 315, USC. They’ve been scouting USC quite a bit, and as I’ve watched a few games, it looks like the guy can play.

“There is nothing patient, however, about his use of hands. Wheeler uses his long reach and impressive strength to grab hold of opponents, rag-dolling them, at times. He anticipates counter moves well, showing the balance to slide laterally while keeping his legs bent and his butt down to maintain leverage and power.”

“Wheeler is especially effective in the running game, creating a powerful surge at the point of attack due to his strength. Wheeler’s initial burst and rare straight-line speed for the position stand out when he’s asked to block at the second level, as he gobbles up yardage, surprising opponents with his ability to get downfield.”

Seems like traits the Tom Cable would like there a lot. Maybe Seattle goes DL early with Nnadi, and looks R2 for Wheeler, or perhaps Dion Dawkins?

Yes. I do think he’s a guard in the pros, but certainly appears able to play OT.

I like his confidence too. He was asked if he were to describe himself to a GM what would he say. And his answer was he’s a dog on the field and his athleticism and length will separate him from the rest of the pack come combine time and pro days.

Okay, so if you are JS looking at this draft, knowing you still need help on the OL, you don’t see tackles you love and there’s a guard out there you’re high on, do you pull that trigger with the designs of making Ifedi your starting RT?

Wheeler’s a nearly man for me. Flirts with being solid and then you see a game that makes you roll your eyes. It’s quite hard to work out who they will/won’t like without combine numbers so we’ll have to see how he performs.

Yeah, it’s a bit frustrating trying to figure out who they might target for OT beyond Bolles. Matched up against Washington, I thought Wheeler looked pretty good, but Washington was minus on some pass rushers that game.

Are there any potential day two tackles fitting the Tom Cable mold that you like on tape? Dion Dawkins? Taylor Morton?

It’s hard to say. Need to see who performs at the combine and matches their ideals. Length, explosion — important factors. Then we can start to look through at character, grit and stuff like that (based on whatever the internet affords us in terms of info).

One way or another I suspect the two big needs they’ll seek to address this off-season, baring a big turn around, will be run offense improvements and interior pass rush/run defense.

A team (The Browns) doesn’t get better by trading away a face of the franchise and one of their best players in LT Joe Thomas. Not only is that a particularly hard position to fill in the NFL, but you are trying to replace a guy with is still a probowl caliber player (at the minimum). The Browns only have 4-5 very good players, why weaken the team further with a 3rd round pick via trade.

The Browns are 3-4 years away from amounting to anything. As of right now, they have an incredible amount of youth on the team… a second year of 10+ picks joining the team would lead me to believe they need to hold onto any quality NFL starter they can….. they need guys that can train the “youth” how to be professionals and how to be quality NFL football players. “The intangibles” are as important with Joe Thomas as the actual play on the field. He might get moved in the off-season, but I seriously doubt it. The front office and HC are too smart to do that, unless someone gives them a package of picks way over his value…….

I’m starting to get a feeling that Jabril Peppers won’t go nearly as high as most people are suggesting right now. Anybody else?

Little bit of rumbling in the draft community about what he is. All that college tomfoolery won’t work in the NFL, they say. Won’t be covering slot WR, won’t be a boundary corner. So he’s basically a box safety? In the top 5? If he’s Deone Buchanon, that guy didn’t go in the top 5, and I don’t think the value is there.

He’s not Deone Bucannon. No one is. Wanna know why he’s so successful and that position doesn’t exist even though teams try to find it? Because he’s 100% unique and there’s only 1 of him.

Peppers is gonna end up running close to a high 4.3 at 215 lbs. That’s incredible.

He might not be a generational position player, but he’s a generational athlete that almost every team is trying to find. Peppers can do some coverage things, but its not his strength. What he is though is a 3 down defender.

I also think the Jets would be the ideal landing spot for Peppers. Because it wasn’t Bruce Arians that took a S, moved him to LB in a 3-4, and created a position (and trend) that currently only exists in college.

No, that would be HC Todd Bowles, a brilliant defensive mind. IF he’s still there after this season that is.

Sometimes he looks like a 1st rounder. Other times a 3rd rounder or so. I don’t think he’s a LT at all, but a RT certainly. However, there is a lot he offers to work with. Even more so if he’s the athlete he’s rumored to be.

Really looking forward to this game. Its a chance for Seattle to right the ship and get back on track and all that. Plus, it appears likely we’ll have Bennett, ET, and Britt back, though Shead is uncertain and it looks like Coyle and Tripp are both dinged up.

Im most excited to have Britt and Bennett back. The dropoff at their positions was greater than even from ET to Terrell.

The guys Im most interested in watching though are Rawls and Pope though. Im really excited to see if they can offer the 1-2 punch I think they can. Both have different styles and could make it hard for defenses to adjust if we play our cards right, mixing it up with blocking calls and rotating those guys in within the same drive.

I remain fascinated that an absolute athletic studs at RB is out there without a job. Daryl Virgies hasn’t been brought in for a tryout yet he screams seahawk RB, from an athletic standpoint. He must be a terrible football player.

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